


He Sees You (For All That You Are)

by agoodpersonrose



Category: Schitt's Creek
Genre: Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Blind Character, Blindness, Braille, Disability, First Kiss, Fluff, M/M, Marriage Proposal, Patrick Brewer loves David Rose, Retelling, Romance, Tooth-Rotting Fluff
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2021-01-08
Updated: 2021-01-08
Packaged: 2021-03-12 03:54:23
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,817
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/28629141
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/agoodpersonrose/pseuds/agoodpersonrose
Summary: David swears as he trips up the second step into Ray’s house.“I always fucking forget that one,” he murmurs as he uses his stick to clumsily manhandle his way through the door.A retelling of five key moments in David and Patrick's relationship wherein David is blind.
Relationships: Patrick Brewer/David Rose
Comments: 64
Kudos: 219





	He Sees You (For All That You Are)

**1.**

David swears as he trips up the second step into Ray’s house.

“I always fucking forget that one,” he murmurs as he uses his stick to clumsily manhandle his way through the door.

Ray’s living room is loud, the clipping sound of the shutter of his camera, and David frowns, speaking to the room in general.

“Um, I have an appointment?” he asks.

“Oh, David!”

He hears Ray clattering about and jerks a hand away as he feels his approach.

“You don’t have to touch me,” he reminds the overly eager man. Ray had always done this, out of kindness of course, but it always grates David the wrong way. “I don’t need touching. We had an appointment?”

“Yes, of course. Patrick?” Ray calls out for another man and David waits, chewing his lip all the while. “Now, David. This is Patrick,” David bats off Ray’s hand from his arm again as he tries to lead him somewhere. “He has brown eyes and brown hair, and he wears a _lot_ of blue.”

“I don’t think I really needed to know that,” David says, but he hears Ray moving away already.

“Hi, I’m--” a soft voice says from in front of him. “Oh sorry, I was holding my hand out, I’m an idiot--” he stutters, sounding embarrassing.

David laughs lightly, endeared by the man’s gentle tone and holds his hand out to shake. “You might have to come to me,” he says softly. Patrick’s hand finds his and he shakes it gently, taking note of the rough palm and firm grip for a fleeting moment before it’s gone again.

“Do you wanna take a seat?”

David nods but hesitates before stepping forward, using his cane and the limited shadow he can see to slowly to make his way across the room towards Patrick’s voice.

“Oops, sorry, um, there is a stack of boxes to your left there--”

David freezes and waits, chewing his lip.

“Do you want a hand?”

Patrick’s voice is nearer again, and David hesitates for a moment before replying in a tight voice, “Yes please.”

“I’m just gonna put my arm out if you want to take it?”

David does so.

**2.**

The bell jingles above the door and David startles, not expecting Alexis to return so soon after their big argument.

“I hope you’ve come to apologise,” he says, his voice filled with ice as he fiddles with a box filled with body creams and milk, unwilling to admit he needs her help.

“Um, any particular reason or is my general presence not appreciated?” a very male, very _not-_ Alexis voice replies instead of the lilting tone of his sister.

“Oh, shit. Sorry, I thought you were someone else.”

There is some shuffling, and then Patrick speaks again. “I, um, well actually your business licence has arrived, and usually we send it in the post, but I don’t know- I don’t know how to get the- the braille on the um, letters. Or even if you use braille, and I just- I thought maybe instead I should just, bring it in, myself.”

David has to bite down a smile at the man’s awkward tone. “Um, I have limited skill with braille, but I can read simple things, and for the record, any other documents can be forwarded to the motel and um, my friend Stevie will help me with them.”

“That’s good to know. Um, thank you- for that,” Patrick’s voice moves closer and David turns his body towards it. “I did however, request that your business licence come with braille translation underneath. Just- let me know if I overstepped.”

David reaches out a hand and takes what feels like a framed photo out of Patrick’s hands. He takes a moment to feel the weight of the frame, bringing his hands around to the front to find that Patrick has already removed the glass for him. He feels the bumps across the front spelling out _David Rose_ and underneath the name of the store, _Rose Apothecary._

“You didn’t have to do this,” David murmurs, just slightly in awe of the thoughtful gesture that nobody else has ever bothered with before.

“No, I- I wanted to.”

David feels himself grinning and nods, holding the frame closer to his chest. “Um, tell me, what does the frame look like?” he asks.

“Oh, well, it’s silver, and um, shiny--” Patrick goes silent when David fails to hold back the wince. “Is that bad?”

David would worry that he had offended the man if he couldn’t hear the tone of humour in his voice. “Well, it’s just, I’ve been working _very_ hard to curate a very tasteful sand and stone palette in here, which is especially hard considering that I am relying on the eyes of a literal towns full of people, of whom have about a teaspoon worth of taste between them all.”

A light chuckle from Patrick sounds like music to his ears. “Well, I could get a new frame for you, if that would help you to ‘curate your palette’?”

David shakes his head, shielding the frame closer to his chest as if to protect it. “I think the frame should be fine. I’m more concerned about the actual products- I can’t really tell the differences between the bottles; some of the scents and products are distinguished solely by colour or the label, even though I _asked_ them to make them different shapes so that I could differentiate. It’s just- I’m meant to be doing this on my own and I can’t even put out the products in the right--”

David takes a deep breath, having surprised himself with his little rant on top of embarrassing himself in front of the total stranger he met at Ray’s.

“Um, it’s not a big deal, it’ll be fine. Thank you for bringing me the business licence, you really didn’t have to do that--”

“I could help- if you’d like. With the stock. I could put them out with you or- or if you’d rather, then I could just, put the boxes in different places, around the store--” Patrick trails off for a moment. “Which I’m now realising is a very stupid suggestion considering you’d have to go and find them all, and that would probably make it harder for you, so--”

“I mean, if you’re available to help, then I wouldn’t mind the help,” David says softly. “I mean, you can’t be any worse than my sister, who keeps _using_ the product right in front of me, as if I can’t _hear_ her putting on the lip balm.”

“Well, I can promise you I won’t do that. I mean, this body milk doesn’t even look appetising.”

“That’s not- you don’t _drink_ it!”

**3.**

So, Patrick invests in the store. And they open, in a night that may go down in history as one of the happiest of his entire life. That is, until his parents forget his birthday, and Patrick takes David out to the café, of all places, where they share a plate of mozzarella sticks, and finally, Patrick says softly in the car outside of the motel.

“David, can I- I mean, would you- Could I kiss you?”

“Oh,” David replies; surprised by the common courtesy that so few have ever granted him. Of a request where usually there wouldn’t even be a warning. “Um, yes. I’d like that.”

And then Patrick’s hand is cupping his face, his fingers rough and firm and then his lips. Soft and tentative and _wanting_ as he presses the sweetest of kisses to David’s lips, pulls back, and then comes in again, tilting his head just perfectly to steal a second taste.

He pulls back, and David reaches a hand up to his lips, feeling the grin there as he waits for some sort of verbal reaction from Patrick’s side of the car. “Well, that was--”

Patrick makes a strangled noise of agreement and lets out a sudden breath of air. “David that was- I mean, that was the first time I’ve ever- um, the first time I’ve ever done that with a guy.”

“Oh- okay, and how do you feel, about that?”

“God, David. That felt like my first- that was, I’ve never--” Patrick rambles, cutting himself off with an embarrassed laugh which David can empathise with.

“Um, do you want to maybe do it again, sometime?”

“Yes, yes--” and then the lips are back, and they’re just as soft as before but gentler too. Less desperate and surer of themselves as David gives back all he’s got.

That was two weeks ago now, and David and Patrick have barely had a moment alone to really _connect_ even since they started seeing each other. David insists on total privacy, and while the back room at the store and the back seat of Patrick’s car have been very enjoyable experiences, they haven’t had a real chance to spend the time working out what they’re both comfortable with, or to get any further than some very light groping.

Finally, their saving grace arrives. Stevie’s offer to lend out her apartment is suspiciously generous of her, and David would much rather grill her until she just tells them why she’s doing it, but the way Patrick is gripping David’s hip tightly and squeezing reveals his desperation for David to just agree, so he does.

They arrive in Stevie’s apartment, which smells vaguely of coffee and deodorant. They are just listening to her drone on about ground rules and lines on whiskey bottles when David hears the front door open and frowns.

“Are we expecting visitors?” he asks, getting the feeling that the catch has finally shown itself.

“Um, no, actually, we’re not.”

“Hey, pony.”

David gasps dramatically at the sound of Jake’s voice even as he grins slightly manically at the fact that he was right. “Pony--”

“I thought I said I’d meet you in the car,” Stevie is muttering, but it’s too late.

“Hey, David. It’s been a while,” Jake says, and David braces for the impact of his usual kiss. Instead, he feels Patrick’s presence shift from next to him to just slightly in front of him as if to block him from the advance. “Who’s this guy?”

“I’m Patrick, and you are--?”

“Picking up Stevie.”

“So, I’m not getting a name, then?”

David can’t really tell what just happened, but he can tell from Patrick’s tone that he’s annoyed, and a little jealous, and so he moves his arm to wrap around Patrick’s back and rub it lightly.

“You two are still seeing each other, then?” David asks.

“Well, after we all broke up, Stevie came round to talk and it just- didn’t stick.”

There’s silence for a moment and David bites his lip, unsure of what Patrick’s reaction to that piece of news will be.

“We should go. Leave you two love birds alone,” Stevie says, and David can hear the trace of a laugh running through it and has no doubt he will be filled in later.

“Unless you want to join us?”

“Ooh, no--” David immediately replies, nodding as he hears them retreat and turning to Patrick who has gone suspiciously silent. “What just happened there?”

Patrick lets out a breath of air and shudders under David’s hands. “God, I’m sorry, that was so rude of me I didn’t even think I just- he was going in for- and I know you hate it when people touch you without asking so I just- stepped in front of you. That was so out of order I’m so sorry--”

He goes quiet again as David trails his hands up from Patrick’s back, to rest on his shoulders, and then finally to cup his face. “Nobody has ever done that for me before,” he whispers, his fingertips tracing across his cheekbones and eyebrows, trying to memorise the shape of his face underneath his palms, to build a picture with his hands.

It’s undeniably intimate, and David can feel the puffs of breath coming from Patrick’s mouth quicken as he continues his soft touches, finishing at his lips which he locates first with his hands, and then with his mouth, kissing him softly and slowly.

“We should probably talk about the whole- Stevie thing,” Patrick mumbles, his voice cracking as David kisses a path down his chin to his neck, where he starts sucking and biting lightly just to get a rise out of Patrick.

“Mm, we could do that,” David agrees. “Or you could lead me through Stevie’s no doubt very cluttered apartment to the bed?”

“I could- I could do that,” Patrick eagerly agrees, holding David’s hips as he leads him forward until he’s suddenly gone from in front of him.

David frowns and reaches forward and then down to find Patrick has laid down on the bed already. He scrambles to follow, not wanting to lose the intimacy of the moment, but somehow manages to immediately place his hands on the crotch of Patrick’s jeans (where there is already a impressively sizeable bulge), and then follow that by kneeing him in the exact same place as he struggles to straddle his lap.

“Oof--”

“Sorry, I’m so sorry, oh my God, sorry--”

But Patrick is laughing, so David laughs too, and he’s reaching up and helping him lie down on the bed next to him. The heat of Patrick’s body blankets David’s as he lies on top of him, hands evermoving along David’s soft sweater, chosen especially to encourage Patrick to touch.

“God, David, you’re gorgeous.”

“Mm,” he hums in response, slowly raising his hands again to trace over Patrick’s face once more. “So are you.”

**4.**

Patrick’s promise of a picnic isn’t turning out exactly how David had envisioned. His usually very thoughtful boyfriend seemed to think that a hike was something David would want to do, even despite the fact that he can make little out other than the odd shadow for depth, and even ignoring that, is not well known for his grace.

The track isn’t even straight forward. It’s uneven, and twisted, and David keeps stumbling on branches and rocks sticking out of the floor. After a while, he can’t help but let out a disgruntled noise as he trips again on something he obviously couldn’t see coming.

Patrick is rightfully extremely apologetic for the whole thing. He tries to call it off several times when David falls and almost hits the ground, but David insists that they continue. He has never really been hiking, and the fact that it was something that Patrick wanted to help him experience was actually a lot more romantic than David would admit, especially after the last time he walked into a thorny branch and got pricked.

“God, I’m so sorry, David. I don’t know what I was thinking,” Patrick apologises for the hundredth time as they walk with David’s arm looped loosely in Patrick’s to lead him forwards. “I was just so distracted and I just- I’m such an idiot.”

“Okay, believe it or not, I was actually enjoying myself for a moment there before you started complaining again,” David says, teasingly, listening for the huff of breath Patrick always lets out when he’s amused. “The bird song is actually very calming, and it’s nice and cool out here.”

“Huh, really?”

“Mhm,” David confirms, grabbing a little tighter to Patrick’s arm as he trips over another stone, but he works through it. “I mean, you’ve got the backpacks, and the sunglasses, and everything. And you brought my stick which I can’t use on this terrain but still, a very sweet gesture.”

Patrick makes an embarrassed noise that sounds just a little too choked up, and David frowns.

“Please don’t be upset--”

“I’m not upset, David, I’m just- God, I’m so embarrassed. I was so busy thinking about sharing this with you and getting to experience it with you that I didn’t even consider how different it would be for you.”

David squeezes Patrick’s arm in a way he hopes is reassuring. “You don’t have to keep apologising, you planned this lovely day for us, and I want to finish it, even if I have to make you swear an oath never to try and get me to hike anywhere ever again.”

This time, Patrick sounds genuinely amused when he laughs, which David counts as a win for himself and smiles smugly.

“It’ll be no less than a horse drawn carriage from now on, David, I swear.”

David makes a displeased noise and shakes his head. “Ew, no, no horses. They stink, and they’re loud, that’s all I know about them.”

“Okay, David. It’s just this corner and then we’re there.”

They step out of the cool shade of the trees into the hot sun, and Patrick leads David to sit down on some sort of rock. “Does this mean it’s time for the cheese?” David asks, wiggling in his seat and waiting for Patrick to join him.

“Um, well--”

“You know, this is actually really nice,” David barrels on, feeling the rough stone beneath him and breathing in the fresh air. “I mean, I assume there is a view of some sort that I don’t get the benefit of, but other than that, I mean, it’s fresh, and I can hear the birds still, and the trees. It’s actually quite lovely.”

“Well, that’s good because, um, well,” Patrick is stuttering, and David frowns. “This whole thing didn’t really go the way I hoped it would, but I can’t wait another moment to do this, so, here goes--”

David frowns but stays silent and waits for Patrick to continue.

“I used to come on this hike a lot, when I was developing feelings for this guy I had just gotten into business with, and I didn’t know what to do about it, because I didn’t know if this guy had the same feelings, or if I’d ever muster up the courage to let him know how I felt.”

David gasps a breath as he listens to the speech, raising his hands to cover his mouth in surprise.

“So, I thought this would be the perfect place to give him this--”

David reaches out his open palms instinct and feels the shape and weight of a jewellery box pressed into them. He lets out a breath of air as he feels it for a moment, the soft fabric and cool hinges, before finally clicking it open to feel four, thick rings, the same weight as the ones he wears on his right hand.

“--and to ask him to marry me?”

David shakes his head in surprise. “Where are you? Are you on your knee right now?” he asks, choking back sobs. “Come here--”

And then he’s stood up, and Patrick is in his arms, and they’re kissing, and it’s wet, and messy, and just perfect.

“The rings, are they--”

“Gold, they are different to your other ones.”

David kisses him again, because he just has to, “Are they 24 karat?” he asks once they’ve pulled back for air again. Patrick is silent for a moment and David rethinks his question. “It doesn’t matter, yes. It’s a yes--"

**5.**

“Isn’t this a little ironic, David?” Patrick asks as he stumbles getting out the back seat of the car.

“Yeah, David. It’s like the blind leading the--”

“That’s enough out of you,” David silences Stevie with a gesture as he holds Patrick’s hands out in front of him. He walks slowly backwards, trying not to stumble on the gravel as Stevie verbally directs them from where she’s still sat in the car to avoid the flower bushes leading up the drive.

The texture of the ground changes and David leads his fiancé a few steps further across the grass until he comes to a stop, waiting for Stevie to confirm their placement and then listening to the sound of the driver’s window being rolled back up to give them the aura of privacy.

“What is happening, David?”

“Okay, you can take your blindfold off now,” David says softly, reaching out a hand to take the soft fabric from him and holding it loosely in his hand. He hears Patrick gasp softly at the sight and holds his breath for a reaction.

“David--"

“So, yesterday, when I disappeared with Stevie for a while, she brought me here. She said this is the cottage we had been talking about. The one you told me looked just like Kate Winslet’s cottage from--”

“The Holiday,” Patrick finishes for him, grinning slightly as he does so. “I can’t say it’s an exact match, David.”

“Okay well, I’m picturing it how you described it and I realised that maybe- I was perhaps, _picturing_ myself in New York for the wrong reasons.”

“What are you saying, David?” Patrick asks, and David can tell that he’s breathless as he does so and reaches out to grab at his shoulders. “You want to stay here?”

“I spoke to the owners, and I put an offer in. I just kind of came to the realisation that maybe I wasn’t thinking properly about what I wanted our lives to be, and that I was maybe trying to prove something to people- prove that I was capable of living in the big city again, despite everything. But Stevie reminded me that I shouldn’t be living my life trying to please people who never took a second glance at me; that I should maybe just let myself be happy with what I have right here.”

“You’re sure this is what you want, David? Because we would make it work in New York. You know that, right? I would be there all the while to make everything easier.”

David grins as he feels Patrick’s arms wrapping tightly around his waist and squeezing as if to remind him of his presence. “I’m sure. _This_ is the life I want; the one with you, and our store, and our cottage. Together.”

“David,” Patrick murmurs, in that awe-filled voice of his. “I swear I will make you so happy here.”

“You’d fucking better.”

David grins into the kiss that Patrick pulls him into, tightening his grip on his fiancés arms and shoulders and pulling him ever closer all the while. They pull apart, and David lets Patrick take a minute to stare at the building that would soon become their home.

“Go on then, describe it to me?” he asks, nudging Patrick’s shoulders slightly.

“Um, okay, so it looks pretty small from the front, with a white door and windows either side with red shutters. But the actual house stretches around the back, I--” David giggles as he reaches out a hand to try and grab at Patrick’s mouth and quieten him.

“No, no, I mean- Describe it to me. Our life together, here. What does _that_ look like?”

“Oh, David,” Patrick says softly. “It’s glorious.”

**Author's Note:**

> This has been in the works for a couple of months now. While I did do a lot of reading and research into blindness and have tried my best to be accurate I will happily take any notes or suggestions and make changes if anything I have said isn't wholly accurate if you just let me know!
> 
> Thank you very much for reading, and I hope you enjoyed! Let me know what you thought in the comments! ❤️


End file.
